Super Men

After all these years,Bears--and Bulls--backers still love the Superfans

February 01, 2007|By Jerry Soverinsky, for RedEye

It's hard to believe that any performance sharing a stage with Vanilla Ice singing "Ice, Ice Baby" could ever achieve broadcast distinction, much less a cult following. But such has been the case with "Saturday Night Live's" Superfans sketch, first performed Jan. 12, 1991.

It has endured as one of the show's most popular recurring sketches, and its trademark lexicon has come to define the stereotypical Chicago sports fan. The 1991 "SNL" episode, created by Chicago-trained comedian Robert Smigel, featured guest host and Chicago native Joe Mantegna.

As a longtime Chicago sports fan, Mantegna loved the Superfan role; 16 years later, he's still reminded of its significance.

"It's everywhere you look," he told RedEye recently, while discussing the sketch's popularity. "It's become part of the personality of the Bears and the city too. Da Bears. Da Coach. Da Paul. It is Chicago.

"Everyone knows the Superfans, if not by name, then at least by personality," he said.

The clamor seems to be picking up again, Mantegna said, and he's been contacted by others for news stories leading up to Sunday's big game.

The Superfans sketches featured Mike Ditka clones--thick mustaches, sunglasses and heavy Grabowski accents--feasting on huge slabs of red meat, kielbasa and fried foods, and washing them down with mugs of beer. The Superfans sat around a table predicting the outcomes of Bears (and later Bulls) games--with the "Da Bears" or "Da Bulls" winning by some ridiculous margin.

Smigel, a New Yorker who did improv training in Chicago in the early '80s and later became an "SNL" writer, told RedEye he developed the Superfans idea from his own experiences with Chicago's passionate sports fans.

While he grew up a huge Knicks fan, he developed an immediate attachment and appreciation for Chicago sports and its fans while working here

"One of my first weekends in Chicago, I went to Wrigley Field," he said. "I couldn't believe how much fun everyone was having. And everything was so uniform--everyone was wearing oxfords with a T-shirt over it. And of course, everywhere you looked, people had their Ditka mustaches, baseball hats and these aviator glasses that were at least four years outdated.

"That was [the basis for] the Superfans sketch. And I always tried to make them as outrageous as possible. I think we had one where they were debating who would win, Ditka or a hurricane." (The verdict: Ditka--unless the hurricane was named Hurricane Ditka).

Smigel originally wrote the sketch with Bob Odenkirk and Dave Reynolds for the "Happy Happy Good Show," a 1988 Chicago improv revue that also featured Smigel, Conan O'Brien and Greg Daniels. He revived the sketch a few years later specifically for Mantegna.

"It became popular, and they always asked me to [reprise] the role, too, but it was difficult," Mantegna said. "I was in L.A."

Smigel and other "SNL" writers then introduced another Chicagoan, George Wendt, as Bob Swerski, Bill's brother.

"George had just finished with 'Cheers' and was happy to break out of his Norm persona, so he did many of the later sketches. He explained my [Bill Swerski's] absence as owing to recovering from a heart attack," Mantegna said.

Mantegna, whose popular works include "Searching for Bobby Fischer" not to mention a recurring role as the voice of Fat Tony on "The Simpsons," grew up on Chicago's West Side, moving to Cicero while in high school. He counts Brian Urlacher among his favorites on this year's squad.

"He's a throwback to the great linebackers," he said.

He's followed the Bears closely this year, mostly at his Burbank, Calif., restaurant, Taste Chicago.

"We'll have a huge tent there for the Super Bowl with hundreds of guests," he said. "There'll be plenty of Italian beef sandwiches and other Chicago food specialties."

As for the Superfans characters, they were last seen in a brief TV cameo before last year's Super Bowl (the 20th reunion of the Bears' last championship), when Wendt appeared alongside Ditka and engaged in their trademark banter. Whether "SNL" will revive Superfans for this weekend's airing is anyone's guess, though; the producers couldn't say when asked by RedEye.

But regardless, any Superfan would say the outcome of Super Bowl XLI has never been in doubt.

As Smigel's Carl Wollarski might very well predict: "I tell you who's gonna be riding high, my friend. A certain team from a certain town. Starts with a 'C' and ends with an 'O.' And in the middle is 'hicag.' "

SUPERFANS TRIVIA

- Mike Ditka appeared on two episodes: once in 1993 (along with Joe Mantegna's second appearance as Bill Swerski); and again in 1997 (along with George Wendt as Bob Swerski).

- Wendt appeared in nine "SNL" Superfans sketches between 1991-2003, the most of any Superfans performer.